Harry Potter and the Missing Battle
by fergyness
Summary: Harry's 6th year at hogwarts, some newcomers dazzle the trio, and there are many secrets hidden behind watching eyes, dedicated to Mali i'm constantly adding so don't forget to check back once and a while for more! fergy
1. The Secret's Out

**Chapter 1: The Secret's Out **

All was calm, and yet what didn't meet the eye was not. It was a quiet evening on Privet Drive and everyone was slowly relaxing. Well, not everyone. The Dursleys of number four were yet again making quite a racket. This was due to, of course, the young and troubled Harry Potter. The problem was not only that Harrys' friends have been writing to him, but the entire wizarding world including the Daily Prophet. Everyone wanted to know the facts, and what the Ministry had still been regretting to tell them. Harry believed he was safe, until somehow his address at the Dursleys came out into the open and now, all over London, there were owls soaring overhead, all heading for the same house. Uncle Vernon was in an uproar, because he and his wife would not hold with such nonsense. Harry was trying again to explain what all the post was for, but they wouldn't listen to him even if he were screaming. It was better for Uncle Vernon to let all his anger out and not let Harry say a word.

"I already told you," shouted Harry. "It's not my fault, I never told your address to anyone!"

"Haven't I already told _you_ boy, I will not tolerate such things in this household!" bellowed Uncle Vernon.

Dudley turned his bulky form around from the TV to watch, because Harry being bullied was even better than his favorite shows.

All summer long, he had resorted to the television, because his entire "gang" was away on expensive vacations somewhere. He couldn't beat up kids or wreak havoc unless there were others to cover for him, and they weren't on vacation themselves because there was no one to watch Harry (Mrs. Figg had gone off herself). This left Dudley, as Harry thought miserably, to torture him.

"I can't help it, there's no way to stop the letters from coming, and they just want some answers!" he said over his uncle's uproar.

"Answers to what?"

"Not like you'd care."

His uncle's ignorance of the magical world was really beginning to bug him. They would never completely understand what he had been through, what he was going through. He thought they'd feel differently if _they_ were the ones being hunted down, watching as their loved ones fell in defending them.

"Oh really, I would like to know why we get put in so much danger with you around!"

Aunt Petunia spoke quietly in the background to Dudley, who sulkily left the table and went upstairs. It's no like he wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Fine." The blood coursing through his veins felt close to boiling. "They want to know what really happened between Voldemort and me, not what our Ministry has been telling them."

"So your confounded "Ministry" has been lying, eh?"

"Yes." Harry said, slowly taking a breath. "They wouldn't believe Dumbledore about anything. They all think I'm some sort of a nutcase."

"Well why should they believe you, idiot boy?" snarled Uncle Vernon.

"Because it happened, I was there, remember!" Harry stated loudly through clenched teeth.

"Fine," said Uncle Vernon, glancing at his wife for support. "I don't need to know, just try to keep away those bloody owls!"

Harry was amazed at how fast his Uncle could change the matter they were talking about to blame something else on him.

"Well you're going to have to get over it because that's just as likely as trying to stop a speeding bullet."

"Why don't you use your…" he said, pointing at Harry's wand. Harry couldn't believe his Uncle was suggesting he do magic in his own house.

"It's caused us enough trouble before! Thanks to you we're still staying here during the summer and not in that vacation home in Majorca we could have had!" The memory of the pudding incident had not entirely vanished from his uncle's mind.

"Well darling, he has been through a lot," said Aunt Petunia, finally speaking up and once again giving a thought to Harry's problems.

"I still don't want him ruining our house with those owls! Why can't they use the regular post?"

Harry thought it was like asking him why the grass grew.

"It's just the way we do things." Harry said slowly, trying not to get his uncles temper up once again. He dared not say the word "wizard" in front of him, for his own safety.

"I have had enough for one night," he said, plopping down in the nearest chair. "Go to bed and I'll deal with you tomorrow,"

Very reluctantly, Harry climbed the stairs to his room; "I'll deal with _him_ tomorrow," he murmured to himself.

Once he reached the landing, he heard the loud snores of his cousin, who, Harry thought, could sleep through a stampede outside his bedroom door. After he closed _his_ door, he took a look at his alarm clock. It was already 11:57.

"I might as well have some real food and answer some of those stupid letters," he said to himself.

At first, Harry had been reluctant to open any of them, but eased into a routine of answering a few a day, trying to get the majority of people to stop bugging him.

Slowly and carefully, he lifted the loose floorboard under his bed as to make no noise to disturb the Dursleys. Pulling out a handful of cakes from the Weasleys and a grabbing a few of the letters in the corner of his room, Harry sank down on his bed. "Well, better now than never," he mumbled, as he opened the first letter addressed to him in sloppy writing. Harry ripped off the seal on the heavy parchment and unfurled it. It was written so hastily he could barely read it.

Mr. Harry Potter,

Due to the immense change in the Minister's beliefs after the said night at the Ministry of Magic concerning He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, I have no reason to doubt you any longer. I had always known you were truthful in your words, but being in close relation to the Minister, my views had been slightly swayed. Do note that many at the Ministry have approved of your story and are now attempting to fix the problems that have arisen since the dreadful night of two months and three days previous.

Thank You again for your time and immense strength.

Mathew Breskid,

Ministry of Magic

He reached for his parchment, ink, and quill. He couldn't think of a reply to this; the warm summer night air was getting to him. Setting aside the letter, Harry began to think about his godfather. His heart began to thump loudly in his chest at the thought.

For two months now Sirius has been dead. Harry hoped against hope that Sirius would come back as a ghost, but the idea was long forgotten. Harry knew that he was not going to come back. He would take a different path. But Harry only wanted to see him one last time, which he told himself, was not possible. Over and over again he thought back to what happened and how he could have prevented it.

"It's all my fault," he quietly said to the ceiling. He kept reminding himself, 'If I hadn't thought my dream was real he would never have had to come to my rescue. I should have reached him through that mirror first, I forgot all about it. It would have saved his life if I would have remembered.'

He took a quick glance at his broomstick lying in the corner. His _firebolt_ was his most prized possession, and one of the few reminders left of Sirius.

As he drifted off into his own misery, yet another owl was slowly making its way towards the bedroom window, which Harry realized, was still open. He didn't know whether to close it or not. He wasn't in the mood to read about someone else who had to know the details. Leaving the window open and deciding he would answer whoever it was tomorrow, he let the owl fly in. And not a minute too soon, the brown tawny landed lightly on his bed. Heading over to untie the message, he realized it was Hermes, Percy Weasley's owl. Thinking it was another letter of criticism, he opened it slowly not wanting to know what was inside.

Dear Harry,

My deepest sympathy towards you, due to the death of your godfather. I have been informed that he was on our side after all. I also apologize for doubting yours and Dumbledore's judgement. Fudge, of course, has told me all about your astounding escape from the Dark Lord and your truthfulness in the matter. He also is extremely sorry for judging you. And if you would ever like a job here at the Ministry, I would be pleased to refer you to the any of my esteemed colleagues. Once again I feel horribly downtrodden at the fact that so many have been reluctant to hear you out.

Sincerely,

Percy Weasley

Undersecretary for the Minister of Magic

"Well, the prat should have known I wasn't lying in the beginning," Harry said aloud to himself.

His anger at Percy had still not completely left him. As the owl fluttered back out the open window, Harry couldn't help feel sorry for the Weasleys and how they had to deal with Percy's ignorance. Taking another quick glance at his clock, which now read 12:03, he tossed the remaining letters in the corner and placed the last cake back under the loose floorboard and started off to bed.

As the sun peeked through the open blinds the next morning, Hedwig returned with a slimy dead frog clasped in her beak.

"Oh, why did you have to bring that thing in" Harry said groggily.

He was told earlier the day before to get up by Aunt Petunia at 5:00, and that they would have _plenty_ of work for him to do. As he was changing into his cousin's old and baggy shorts, pants for Harry, his uncle called up the stairs to tell him to be down in five minutes. Slowly making his way across the room, he set out to the tasks which lay ahead. He was to trim the dying begonias, water the lawn, clip the shrubs, and scrub the bathrooms. Harry was out in the back garden with cutting shears ready for the dreadful ordeal to begin when a loud voice rang from inside the kitchen.

"I wouldn't make him do that if I were you."

Overwhelmed with happiness Harry spun around, believing it to be Mr. Weasley or Moody or _someone,_ but it was only uncle Vernon arguing with some old man wearing a cloak. Wait a second, _a cloak_?

"Oh, hello there Harry!" Lupin said turning to face him. "How has your summer been?"

"P-professor Lupin?" Harry said, his happiness flooding back at full speed.

"Yes I was just having a talk with your uncle." He was looking just as weary and pale as he had the last time Harry had seen him, but he seemed happy enough.

"You have no right to tell me how to handle that boy!" snarled uncle Vernon, his pudgy eyes darting right towards Lupin's wand.

"Oh, I'm afraid I have more of a right than you do, sir," Lupin added kindly. "I also think you should lay off of the criticisms, because Harry has had enough to deal with already." Lupin said, with sympathy in his young eyes.

"You can't tell me or my family what to do," he growled," I've already told you I am not intimidated by such people!"

"Yes well, has Harry forgotten to mention that you are constantly being watched by no less than three wizards?" he stated calmly. He checked his watch and gasped. "Sorry Harry, I've got to run, I have some important business with Dumbledore, and I'll be in touch soon."

"What?" Harry said, bewildered. "Aren't you going to take me to the Weasleys' or _somewhere_ other than here?"

"I'm sorry Harry, I really can't and Dumbledore wants you to stay here, remember?"

"But I can't stay here!" he said full of suppressed rage.

"I really must be off, but I will make sure that you will get together with the Weasleys before the end of summer holiday."

"But…" Harry tried to get in a last word, but Lupin had already disapparated, leaving him standing there to be unhappy with the Dursleys until that day when he would finally leave, would come.


	2. The Late Letter

**Chapter 2: The Late Letter**

Now the one thing he knew he could count on was the fact that he would soon be out of there. Whether in a week or a month, he didn't know, but he had not heard from the Weasleys since their last letter. It was from Ron and all it said was:

'_Hermione and I are at the Burrow and we really hope to see you soon. Can't really say much here, I guess we'll tell you when we see you.' _

But this could not satisfy Harry's need for information. It was just like last time, when Harry had narrowly escaped from Voldemort in his 4th year at Hogwarts. They had been denying him the details then too. What was this big secret that everyone seemed to be hiding from him? Was it bad news about Voldemort? Was it something else? Harry didn't know, but he desperately wanted to.

He headed down to breakfast that morning to find all three of the Dursleys sitting at the tiny kitchen table awaiting his arrival.

"Erm, hi", said Harry nervously, thinking this was some private meeting about him. They had been extremely cautious since the warning from Lupin, and Harry was quite glad they were.

"Hello, Harry why don't you take a seat?" said his Aunt a little too politely. It seemed he was right.

"Er, okay."

Dudley let out a snigger behind his parents' backs.

"We would like to talk to you about where you are going to live after you are out of that… that… school of yours"

"Oh don't worry; I'll make sure I find a place as far from you as I possibly can." Harry said quickly.

"No, you see, that's what we need to arrange. It appears that …_someone_ wants you to stay here for at least another year after you, well, _graduate_." she said ungratefully, as if graduating from Hogwarts was the worst thing in the world.

"Oh," he said, not really knowing what else to say.

"Yes, he wants you to stay here for _protective_ reasons, you see, not like we _want_ to keep you" Aunt Petunia said bringing back her snappish manner.

"Damn right," barked uncle Vernon, as Dudley smirked once again.

"Fine, but you have to start treating me like a human being and not some stupid animal," Harry said to the floor.

"What was that?" Uncle Vernon said over the television Dudley had just turned on.

"Will you please turn the TV down for mommy, Dudders?"

"Uh" was the only reply that she got, but all the same he lowered it a notch.

"Well what am I supposed to do once I have my own place? I mean, I can't stay here forever." mentioned Harry.

"Yes well we were wondering the same thing and we wanted you to talk to this… _man_... and let him know our… uh... _concerns_," she said with a fake smile on her face.

Harry was pretty sure he knew exactly who they were talking about, but thought to ask.

"Who?"

"Dumbledore, I believe is his name," said Aunt Petunia sarcastically, having received a howler from him just last summer. Harry's guess had been right.

"Yeah, fine."

"Good, now get the ruddy hell out of here!" Uncle Vernon said, loud enough so even Dudley turned to listen in.

"I wouldn't get so upset, remember? There are _wizards _out there watching you every minute of every day. So don't fool with me. " Harry said triumphantly as he bounded from the room.

Messing with the Dursleys only caused him a moment's joy.

If only he could hear from his friends would he finally be happy. What he wouldn't give to be out on the Quidditch pitch again, with Ron at his side, or doing lessons with Hermione. The D.A. would also raise his spirits. But of course they probably wouldn't need to do that anymore since Umbridge was no longer their teacher. Still, he liked having people listen to his side of the story for once.

He decided to write to Ron and Hermione today. He wanted to ask what was going on and why he hadn't heard from them for such a long while. Harry dragged his feet up the steps to his room.

Most people would find solitude in their rooms, but not Harry. This wasn't his real room, in his own house. His house was destroyed, along with his parents, leaving him to live forever more with the Dursleys, all of which despised him in every way possible.

As he grabbed a quill from inside his left desk drawer, he pulled out a piece of parchment from his right. Placing his quill on the surface of the paper, he thought of what to write.

"Dear Ron and Hermione" he said aloud to himself.

I haven't heard from you guys in a long time, what's happening? I'm guessing you two are together from the stupid hints you keep giving me. Why does it seem like everyone is keeping a big secret? I don't want to bug you, but I want to know what this big thing is that no one wants me to find out about. Can you at least tell me if it's something bad, like about Voldemort? Write back as soon as possible.

Harry

"That seems alright to me."

He folded up the parchment and tied it to a rather disgruntled Hedwig. "Take this to Ron and make sure that they answer straight away," he told her. She hooted a doleful reply and took off into the breezy night air. Why hadn't they noticed how lonely and upset being here made him? Couldn't Dumbledore have done some other form of magic somewhere else like Grimuald place to protect him? And why, _why_, couldn't he even leave the house once? As these thoughts swirled through his mind, he began to feel dizzy.

He laid back down on his bed, drifting into a silent stupor. He didn't have any idea how long he lay there, until his Uncle's voice brought him back to his senses.

"Harry, get down here, you have a letter!"

"What?" he said aloud to himself. Could it possibly be Ron, Hermione, or Dumbledore? Leaping down the stairs, and darting towards the voice of his uncle, he slid on the kitchen floor with his socks and came to rest at the small table.

Only uncle Vernon was sitting there, with a purple twinge to his face, because Aunt Petunia and Dudley had gone grocery shopping and left him to watch Harry.

"You've got a letter here, from our post, but you're going to open it up right now so that I can know what this is all about," snarled his Uncle, his mustache quivering.

"Fine, whatever, can I have it?" Harry said anxiously.

Uncle Vernon slowly withdrew the letter from a pocket in his shirt and handed it over slowly, as though not wishing to part with it. Harry saw there were yet again too many stamps. He never got around to telling the Weasleys it wasn't necessary. Harry took it and opened it with a lot more speed than his uncle and began to read aloud:

Dear Harry,

We're picking you up on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock sharp, whether the muggles like it or not. We thought you'd be held down with all of the owls, so we used the muggle way instead. Be packed and ready to leave straight away.

Arthur

"Well, I guess that means I'm going!" he said brightly.

"Good, we can finally be rid of you and that annoying owl." Uncle Vernon said nastily.

"Yup, 'fraid you will," and he leapt from the room.

Once inside his otherwise silent room, he picked up his Transfiguration homework and began to steadily work until late into the night. Finally looking up, having just finished, he heard a soft beeping noise. Scanning his room for a sign of the disturbance, Harry realized it was only his alarm. It was now 12 p.m. He remembered why he set it; it was his 16th birthday. Wondering if the Dursleys would yet again forget this day was soon to be discovered. But now, he didn't care because he would be gone, _gone_, in just 8 hours. It would be another year before he had to deal with them again.


	3. Bumps and Bangs

**Chapter 3: Bumps and Bangs**

As silence swept over privet drive like a raucous wind, Harry felt a joy like none other rise from his stomach. He would finally be going, and he couldn't wait. He sat up, put his glasses on, and checked the clock on his bedside stand. It was a little past 6 in the morning. Figuring he should have set his alarm, he grabbed his trunk and dragged it over to the foot of his bed. Once he made sure he had every scrap of food or clothing from his small bedroom, he began heaving it down the stairs, quietly, so that he wouldn't wake the Dursleys.

Opening the cupboard with a hairpin George had given him, he started to pull out his books and other belongings and began packing. Slowly but surely, he finished up, shoving everything deeper into the trunk to make it fit, snapping the lid on, and placing it by the front door. Upon entering the tiny kitchen an hour later, he sniffed at the sweet smell of the morning air, which carried a hint of lilac flowers. He turned towards the fridge, deciding he should eat something since the Dursleys were all still asleep, and opened it up to find it completely empty. He checked every nook and corner, but found nothing. A hunger pain rose up through his gut like a car revving up. Aunt Petunia always made sure that the fridge was full for her 'Dinky Diddydums,' and they had just gone shopping at the market yesterday. But now, for some reason, there was nothing there.

Harry slowly walked over to a kitchen cabinet with a frown on his face, being slightly confused, and thinking he might just have some dry cereal, pulled it open; nothing.

Moving from cabinet to cabinet, drawer to drawer, getting faster every second, he pulled every one open, each as empty as the last. Flinging his body across the room, he lunged up the stairs and barged into his cousin's room without so much as a knock or a good morning.

"Dudley, where's all the…"

But there was no one in the room. Dudley, who was usually extremely hard to hide, was no where to be seen. The bed was neatly made as though no one had slept in it for a thousand years, and Dudley never made his bed at all. He always let his room become completely filthy until Aunt Petunia would end up cleaning it for him.

As Harry scanned the room, he noticed that every one of his cousin's toys, TVs, video games, and electronics had also vanished.

Harry leaned against the wall for support, thinking, searching his already overcrowded mind, desperately, for some clue as to why this has happened. His stomach didn't help much, still growling at him with hunger.

"_My_ room!" he yelled to the deserted hallway.

But as he entered his room, he came to find that everything was there, just as he had left it. But why?

"Uh!" he moaned, and he slouched onto his bed.

Hedwig wasn't back yet, so there was no way to contact anyone…. unless…

If he took his Firebolt and covered himself and his broomstick with the invisibility cloak, he wouldn't be doing anything illegal, would he? Last time he had thought this plan up, it involved carrying the trunk, but he had no need for it. That way, he could let _someone_ know what happened without using magic, even though he didn't understand it himself. But what if the Dursleys or Hedwig came back? The Dursleys would be happy of course, but would blame the missing objects on him. Hedwig, on the other hand, would like him there to welcome her back, and could get hurt in some way being here in the deserted and creepy house.

"This is an emergency though!" he told himself quickly.

Looking around his room as though it would give him some idea of what to do, he chanced a look at his clock. 7:48. Mr. Weasley was going to be here in less than fifteen minutes; could he wait that long? One more problem, then, he would leave, Harry just hoped there wouldn't be another disturbance. Now he had a chance to sit down and think.

"Why?" He thought, over and over. He put his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes until they hurt.

"Why does this always happen to me! One minute everything's fine, then everyone and everything is gone…"

But a knock on the window shattered his train of thought. It was Hedwig. Harry leapt over his bed towards her as she hopped onto his desk.

"Thank God." He mumbled to himself as Hedwig stuck out her leg gently.

Harry,

Don't leave the house, not under any circumstances. No time to explain what's going on. Don't be frightened. We're coming as soon as possible. DON'T LEAVE THE HOUSE.

Arthur

"Well, that's a fat lot of help" he said sarcastically.

Now he _had_ to wait. There was no other choice. At least the Weasleys were still coming. He decided to sit back down, trying to calm himself from the shock.

Not even a few minutes went by before…

BANG.

A loud screeching noise rent the air, as something very large shattered glass below. Harry ran to the steps and toppled headfirst down them, banging his head and right arm on the banister as he rolled. Sitting up at the foot of the stairs, he rubbed his eyes as spots formed before them. He shook his head, trying to rid of the pain, and gasped at the sight in front of him.

A Jaguar was sitting in the middle of the Dursley's living room, having, somehow, just been driven through the front wall. There were brick remnants lying where clouds of dust began spreading throughout the room. Picture frames and paintings lay shattered or torn all around the car. A shadowy figure surrounded by the rubble, slowly stepped out, and so did 7 others, appearing out of various doors. Fearing for his safety, Harry ducked behind the flipped over sofa. Someone coughed in a tone that Harry recognized… but… how…?

"Harry?" said the familiar voice, shakily.

"R-Ron?" Harry said, just as cautiously, "What happened?"

"Um…

"How…Where did this car come from?"

"Well, you see," said Hermione, stepping out from the shadows. Um… I think Mr. Weasley should tell you." She said nervously.

"I'm sorry Harry, at least we can get rid of this mess before the muggles around here notice anything. I think I can fix this in a jiffy. Stand back, everyone." Mr. Weasley said, as he drew out his wand.

Doubting whether any of the muggles that had heard or seen the crash would forget it in a hurry, he stepped towards the hallway.

The other forms of people moved back towards the far wall.

Mr. Weasley moved to the far corner of the room to get the best aim for his spell, shouting, "_Magora Reparo_!"

It was like watching the wall being destroyed in rewind. Every brick, patch of dust, cement, picture frame, and drywall piece seemed to glue itself seamlessly back together. The couches turned upright and the paintings flew after them. The living room was no longer covered in dust or debris, and the only oddity was the fact that a car remained in the center of the room, leaving not much room for the coffee table.

The group back by the kitchen was now distinguishable.

Lupin was leaning slightly on the fireplace next to Moody, who was as alert as ever, his magical eye rolling around in its socket. Nearest them were Fred and George wearing what seemed to be the finest of dragon skins, who were watching the scene as though it was a favorite movie. Tonks, preoccupied, kept changing her eye color as she was looking in the mirror over the mantle, and Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley stood by the new car (still sitting in the middle of the living room) with grins on their faces.

"Happy Birthday Harry," they said in unison.


	4. Exam Nerves

**Chapter 4: Exam Nerves**

As Harry clambered back in the car after the rest of them, with his trunk, Hedwig's cage, and the rest of his belongings, he realized something.

"Hang on, Mr. Weasley, how are we going to get out of here?" he said

"Uh… I think we can," said Mr. Weasley,"…no, never mind…um…"

"Dad, why didn't you think of this _before_ you put the wall back?" Ron said grumpily.

"There were other things on my mind!" he said in protest.

"Is this your new car?" Harry asked. If it was, they had a _great_ replacement for their old Ford Anglia.

"Didn't we tell you?" Mr. Weasley said obviously, "This is your birthday present!"

"What?" he said loudly. This had to be a joke; the Weasley's could _never_ afford this for him, let alone themselves.

"We all chipped in and decided to get you a car, since… well, now you can drive and all." Ron said enviously.

"No I can't."

"What?" Fred said in a disbelieving tone.

"Well you don't expect the Dursleys to pay for me to learn, and it's not like they'd teach me themselves!" he said, now astounded that he had a car, but couldn't even drive it.

"Let's give it a test drive then, shall we?" Lupin said casually.

"Really?"

"Sure, it's not like there's anything to crash into while we're in the air." Hermione said, as though this settled it.

"Wait, you're not telling me…"

"Yup, it can fly all right." George said, finishing Harry's sentence.

"I dunno," Harry said nervously, "I doubt whether I can just get it started."

"Oh, nonsense, we'd best be off." Lupin said.

"Right, let's go, Harry, you first." Moody said in a growl.

"OK." Harry said, taking a deep breath and slowly seating himself behind the wheel.

The rest of them crowded into the back seats of the car, except for Mr. Weasley, who sat himself beside Harry.

"Alright now, Harry, check your mirrors," he said, buckling up. Harry thought it pointless to check his mirrors in the house, but did as he was told.

"But, Mr. Weasley, how _are_ we going to get out of here?"

"Only one thing to do, stay in the car everybody, I'll be right back."

He stepped out of the passenger side and headed towards the window.

"I can just open up this window a bit," he said

"Arthur, how is that going to help?" Tonks said, leaning out the car window.

"You'll see. _Expalond Laroge_!"

The opening started to enlarge, getting bigger and bigger every second. Soon, it was like there wasn't a wall to begin with, just one gigantic hole made by the window.

"Ready Harry?" Mr. Weasley said, sitting back down and closing the door.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, ready to get out of here at last.

As they took off into the bright sunlit sky, it was like nothing Harry had ever felt before. Or maybe he _had_ felt this way before. This was just like the trip to Hogwarts four years ago, when he and Ron had missed the train. The only difference was that the Jaguar was smoother, sleeker, and faster, much like a broomstick.

"Better put the invisibility booster on," Mr. Weasley said.

"You're not telling me this car can become _invisible_ too?" Harry said, amazed at more shocking information.

"Yes well, now that I have experience with our old car, I knew I could improve yours and enhance the _special features_," he said with a sly smile on his face.

"Sure," Harry said, pushing the small silver button on the dashboard. The car was no longer there; he could hear his breathing and feel his hands on the steering wheel (he didn't dare let go), but he had become a transparent figure flying hundreds of feet above the ground. They were drifting miles away from the Dursleys' residence…wait…that reminded him of something…

"Hang on, Mr. Weasley," he said, "where did the Dursleys and all of their stuff go?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, we transported them to a false environment." Mr. Weasley said calmly.

"A what?" Harry asked, bewildered by the answer he received.

"There are certain places one can set up to get rid of a family of Muggles. The Ministry has been able to create alternative homes, sort of a replica of where they were already living; the same house, the same things. They even have the illusion of the same yards and streets."

"Well you can probably send them back now."

"Right, almost forgot…" and he waved his wand and said a jumble of strange words that Harry could not interpret. Something, small, no larger than a mouse or gerbil, pale yellow, came streaming out and shot out of the car in the direction of his aunt and uncle's place.

After many instructions from Mr. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, and Mad-Eye, Harry began to get the hang of the whole driving thing. Harry was becoming less anxious as the flight continued, but nearly had a heart attack when he had to dodge out of the way of a large fighter jet coming straight towards them.

"Easy does it," he was told, time and time again.

The directions he was being given were quite strange, and he only began to notice that he wasn't going to the Burrow after hours.

"Then where are we going?" he asked.

"Tell you when we get there," Hermione said with a mysterious smile lurking on her face.

Soon they were starting to move around in their seats, as if the journey was coming to an end.

"Are we here?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Just about, we should probably land by the trees over there," Tonks said, pointing.

"Okay," and he slowly and carefully brought the car towards flat ground.

Stepping out, he cast his eyes around for a familiar landmark, but couldn't find one. It seemed he had never been anywhere near here before in his life. There were a bunch of houses in neat little rows. All of the gardens were perfectly trimmed and the windows were sparkling. The houses looked rather large to Harry, though not as large as they really were, maybe he was just used to the size of Hogwarts. Everyone was walking briskly towards what he supposed to be the most perfect of the lot, and they were being led by none other than Hermione.

Something clicked in Harry's brain. They weren't going to _Ron's_, so they must be going to _Hermione's_!

She stopped at the front door and rang the doorbell. Harry saw Mr. Weasley look excitedly around while the bell sounded. Harry heard hurried footsteps as someone came to the door and opened it.

"Welcome, welcome, why don't you come in?" Hermione's mother said. Her father appeared behind her and followed them into the family room.

Harry allowed himself a glance around the first floor. It was by far the largest house he had ever set foot in. There was a marvelous foyer that was long and elegant. Paintings by famous artists and pictures of the family hung around every corner. Marble floors led into the family room, including a large fireplace situated on the opposite wall and a soft tan leather furniture set.

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves." Mr. Granger said, smiling and showing his perfectly aligned teeth; much like Lockhart's. "My name is Ben and my wife's name is Julie."

The Grangers seemed to become less tense around wizards due to their daughter's prolonged learning at a magical school. They were probably getting used to the strange surroundings and people by now. The only person they were really concerned about was Moody. They kept snatching glances at his magical eye, which was taking in every aspect of their home. Mr. Weasley on the other hand, couldn't hold in his excitement. He was over happy with the tea and almost spilled it into Tonks lap in the attempt to pour it in her saucer.

The evening wore on, and they had dinner and desert in the luxurious dining room. With such a large table, they didn't have to pull up a single chair. Everything in their house was in order. The cabinets were organized beyond belief, the books along the shelves were sparkling, and when Harry and Ron entered Hermione's room half hour later, they found it in a state of excellent cleanliness. It was also not what they expected. Harry thought he would find dozens of flowers and pink, frilly things, but came to find the color scheme included deep plums and golds, giving it a very royal, medieval look to it.

"Well, how do you like the place?" she asked them.

"Um, it's big," Ron said stupidly.

"I think it's very, er, nice, Hermione," said Harry.

"Thanks. I'll show you guys to your rooms. We barely have enough space for everyone!"

They followed her toward the far end of the upstairs hall; it seemed to go on forever. Eventually they came to a set of small circular stairs that wound slowly upwards. "You're lucky; we usually don't let anyone stay in this room." Hermione said as they stepped up onto a landing with only one door ahead.

"Why?"

It was clear when they entered why no one was allowed.

The entire room was full of what seemed to Harry very expensive, fragile items. The two king-size beds were hung with what looked like silk and velvet, and the lamps must have been antiques made from hand-blown glass and had real gold and diamond jewels encrusted in them.

"Why are we staying in here?" Ron asked as he stared open mouthed around the room.

"I thought you'd like being away from everyone else." She said.

"Ok then," said Harry.

"Besides, my room's right down those steps and down the hall, first door on the right, in case you get lost or something." Hermione said, smiling.

"Sure," said Harry, sitting down on one of the beds. He put his head in his hand and rubbed his eyes with his palm, sighing.

"What's up?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to him.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said, looking up and shifting.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked nervously, as thought he didn't really want to hear the answer. "Is it bad?"

"Well, you know how every time Voldemort was angry or happy or whatever, my scar hurt or ached?"

"Yeah…"

"For some reason, I haven't had one prickle all summer, not since…" He didn't want to recall the death; it would just remind him of his guilt. He gulped and sprawled out on the bed with his hands over his face.

"Harry, it's not your fault! You were trying to _save_ him! It wasn't you, it was Voldemort!" Hermione said, desperately.

"I know," he said back in a miserable voice.

A few moments passed in silence…then…

"Hey Ron, Harry, Hermoine, your exam results are back!" Mr. Weasley called from the distance.

Harry's stomach plummeted like a fifty-pound weight. He had _completely_ forgotten about his exam results. From the look on Ron's face, he had too. Hermione on the other hand, looked ecstatic with joy.

"Ooh, I've been waiting all month for them! I hope I did well, don't you?"

"We know _you_ did well, but we probably flunked every exam," Ron said gloomily as he headed for the door.

"No you didn't!" she said with a faltering smile.

"Let's go check," Harry said, because he didn't want another row between the two of them.

"Okay."

They went down the small staircase and along the hall, out of a door to the right came Ginny. Fred and George followed them down too, probably hoping to see their results. At the landing, they spotted someone in the other room. He was talking very fast to Mr. Weasley. As the young man turned, they saw his face, and it was none other than…

"Percy!" Ron said in disbelief.


	5. Back Again

**Chapter 5: Back Again**

As Percy began to walk towards him, hand outstretched, with a smile on his face, Harry felt anger again piercing his insides. Percy was disloyal. He was against him all this time and like the Minister of Magic himself, thought he, Harry, was a lunatic or a madman. Harry could not bear to look at him. It reminded him of the Death Eaters who returned to the good side saying they didn't know what they were doing, and that they were under a spell, a trance. But just then, Harry couldn't help it: he backed up with a look of fury on his face.

"I'm out of here," he said, eyeing Percy with dislike. "Idiot," he said, turning and walking back up the main steps, leaving everyone speechless. He went in and sat on Ron's bed, because his was already occupied.

"Hello Fred, hello George." He said in a flat tone. He could hear quick footsteps below him, which must be Ron and Hermione coming to get him.

"What was that all about?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, Harry, are you okay?" George added.

"Fine." He said rudely.

"You don't have to get upset with us."

"We're not the ones who've made you're life miserable."

"Sorry," he said in a distant voice, "I know I just can't believe him; Percy I mean."

"Well you have a reason to hate him!" Ron said stumbling into the room and falling flat on his face.

"Yeah Harry, cheer up," said Hermione, stepping over Ron and helping him up.

"As long as Percy's not still down there, I want to see my exam results." Harry said as Ron got to his feet, brushing himself off.

"Don't worry, he left just after you bolted," Ron said, "Anyone could tell from the way he announced his leaving like he was the King of the world or something."

"Ok, then let's go."

The five of them trudged back down both sets of steps and entered the cavernous kitchen, to find both Ron and Hermione's parents chatting over tea.

Mr. Weasley leaned back on his chair and started the new conversation.

"Hello again, we were wondering when you'd come down, (clearly Mr. Weasley had no idea what had happened a few minutes earlier,) here's your letters Ron, Hermione, Harry." He said, handing them all out.

Harry and Ron gave each other awkward glances and slowly opened their letters. There on top was his school list. Underneath was the bit telling him once again to board the Hogwarts express from platform 9 ¾ at eleven o'clock on September first. With a furtive look around him at everyone else, he put his attention on the last piece of parchment, which was folded and shut with the Hogwarts seal. He ripped it open and looked at it, shocked.

These were not his exam papers. He didn't have a _clue_ how this could be in his envelope. It was a message, a poem, written in silver ink, as though it was unicorn blood itself:

**I know you feel death has taken over a life**

**But please don't forget that yours is in sight**

**My wounds may not heal; my end may have been near**

**But I can still live without a true fear**

**Of now you do know what things that I speak**

**Help will be coming by the one you can't seek**

**For a long year has passed and memories have crashed**

**But you must hold on even if you're out lashed**

**So remember this note it is important, I swear,**

**Or all hope is lost it's now within your care.**

Harry's heart skipped a beat. Who had written this? It wasn't Dumbledore or anyone he knew, it wasn't their handwriting. It was a majestic in type, but calm and smooth all the same. Harry wondered who it could possibly be. No one he knew wrote in this way. He couldn't tell if it was a warning or just a simple poem. But it somehow connected with him instantly, and he didn't know why. He looked at Ron who was pouring over his exam with his mouth hanging open and at Hermione who seemed slightly put out about something. He wouldn't tell them, not yet anyway. He made to put everything back into the envelope but noticed that there was another piece of parchment inside. He pulled it out, and there were his O.W.L. results.

Astronomy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Care of Magical Creatures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E 

Charms--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E

Defense Against the Dark Arts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- O

Divination ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A

Herbology ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E

History of Magic ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P

Potions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E

Transfiguration ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E

"What?" he said out loud.

"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked him.

"Nothing, nothing…" but it was something. Somehow he had passed Potions and had miserably failed History of Magic. Well, that was the one he fell asleep in after all. But how, _how_ did he get an _E _of all grades in _Potions_? He didn't know how to explain to the two, so he just gave his results to Ron to read aloud.

"What!" Ron said equally astounded.

"I don't get it either," Harry said looking back at the letter as though it might have changed in the past few seconds.

"Might as well ask dear old Snape when we get to school, eh?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear.

"Will you two knock it off?" Hermione said looking over at them with a suspicious glare in her eyes.

"What's up with you?" Ron asked a little too forcefully.

"For your information, I only got an A in Astronomy, and it was all because of that Umbridge woman! If she hadn't been after Hagrid," she said.

"Yeah, we all know the story Hermione," Ron intervened.

"Fine, but I still can't believe it, I got O's and E's in everything but that subject, and I would have done well if not for that horrible woman!"

"Well you did perfectly fine in everything else, so quit whining already," Ron said softly when she turned away.

"I'm going back upstairs, you guys coming?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, sure, hang on a second." Hermione responded. She stuffed her results back in the envelope and handed them to her mother. Ron did the same, and then they began walking out to the foyer. As they did so, they realized what was missing.

"Where did Fred, George, and Ginny get off to?" Ron wondered aloud.

"I dunno." Hermione said anxiously.

"Well, Fred and George are almost always at their shop," Ron said," so they probably left to go to work again. Ginny, on the other hand…"

"Oh lighten up you two," Harry said trying to cheer them up, "she's probably out back or something."

"You're right." Ron and Hermione said together.

They all headed back up the many steps until returning to the antique room where Ron and Harry were staying. Harry walked in and finally got his wish to flop down on the bed with his hands behind his head, still clutching his O.W.L. papers in his right.

"I got something strange with my letter," he told them.

"What, a stamp?" Ron said sitting on the second bed.

"Ron," Hermione said coming and sitting next to him and giving him a skeptical look.

"Sorry Harry, go on."

"Yeah, well, I'll let you guys read it, I already did." He took out and handed it to Ron. Hermione leaned over and read it with him. The longer they read, the more confused they seemed to become.

Finally, Hermione spoke: "I don't get it."

"Me either," Ron said.

"Who sent it to you?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know… it was just in with my letter from Hogwarts. And it can't have been something bad, right? Whoever wrote it must have been close to Dumbledore to have been able to put it in the envelope," Harry said, turning from them and gazing absentmindedly out of the bay window. Just then he saw something that almost made his heart stop. A great black dog was sitting in the front yard, staring through the window right back at him. In the time it took for Harry to blink once, the massive dog was gone. Harry shook his head. Sirius was getting to him again. He'd been having these hallucinations ever since he left Hogwarts.

"You know what Harry," Hermione said not noticing his strange behavior, "I think Dumbledore himself might have put that in your letter. He was the only one who could have anyway. Besides, why would someone like Voldemort write you a _poem_?"

"Yeah, that would be kind of weird," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Exactly," Hermione said matter of factly.

"Hey, and maybe it's in poem form because he thinks it could be intercepted or something," Ron said quickly, his eyes open wide.

"Of course…" Hermione said. "Harry, you should try to figure out what it means, until we go back to school, that's the only thing you can really do right now."

"I'm going with Hermione on this one Harry," Ron said looking at Hermione with a smile on his face. A bond of something shot between their eyes, and it befuddled Harry for a moment.

Their gaze returned to normal. This was beginning to be a very strange day for Harry. All of this had to add up, but how? He sat there in silence for at least five minutes getting awkward stares from Hermione and Ron, but he was unaware of them. His thoughts stopped altogether when the doorbell rang. It seemed to jog him back to his senses. The room was darker, and Harry realized that the evening was creeping near.

Apparently it was one of the Granger family's neighbors, because they were welcomed easily and Hermione said happily, "Finally, I thought the Fergusons would never arrive!"

"Who're they?" Ron said quickly.

"We met them on holiday in France a while ago."

"Oh yeah, that was when…" Ron retaliated, but he stopped at the look on Harry's face.

"Never mind," he mumbled.

"Let's go meet them." Harry said to get them to stop talking; memories kept drifting back to his consciousness that he didn't want.

The three of them, yet again, made their way down the numerous staircases. Harry felt like they were at Hogwarts he had to walk so much. Looking throughout every room, wondering which one the family might be in, they finally found them in the formal living room, sitting around the marble table in the center. All the heads turned at the sound of their footsteps, and Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat on one of the two couches not already occupied.

"Hello!" the parents said, while their daughters sat and stared at Harry.

"Hi," Ron and Harry said unenthusiastically, while the girls were still speechless. Hermione must have been having a great summer, because she greeted them with the opposite attitude of Ron and Harry.

Instead, Harry focused his attention on the girls across from him. One was very small and thin. She had blue eyes and pink cheeks. Her black hair was short, about an inch above her shoulder, and she seemed no more than eleven years old. He shifted his eyes to the other girl, and watched her laugh along with Hermione. She was skinny, with strawberry blond hair. Freckles stretched across her cheeks and nose. She also had bright green eyes just like his, and for some strange reason, he didn't mind it when she looked back at him and smiled. He held his gaze for a few minutes, even after she jerked her head to look away; her eyes astounded him. He had never seen them on anyone else. The mother, noticing Harry's gaze, said, "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Marianne, and this is my husband, Frank, and my daughters. Ashley's in your year, I believe, she's turning seventeen in September, and my youngest is Paige, who just turned eleven and will be starting school this year."

Marianne was short with blonde hair and seemed very strong, though she was so small compared to her husband, who towered over everyone in the room. He seemed to have perfect black hair that sat in waves on his head. It reminded Harry of Sirius. Harry quickly shook himself and turned his eyes away.

"Er, my name's Harry, Harry Potter And these are the Weasleys."

"Ah, yes, we've already met the Weasleys. My husband works for the International Wizards Confederation in the American Ministry of Magic. It was they, who got us such a great home here."

After many introductions, the three families moved into the dinning room, and ate the somehow already prepared dinner. It consisted of long lost conversations and marvelous dishes. Towards the end, the Fergusons changed the subject to schools.

"Ashley is going to Hogwarts for her two remaining years, and Paige will be starting there this year," Frank said.

"Where did Ashley go to school before you moved here?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Featherheart Academy of Maryland." Ashley said, before anyone else in her family could. Her voice, like the rest of her family, was pure American.

"Cool," Ron struggled to say through a mouth full of ham.

"It was really small though, compared to Hogwarts of course."

"You've already seen it?"

"Yeah, well, a picture of it. My friend Sam is Dumbledore's granddaughter or something, we met her in France too."

Ron sprayed his potatoes onto Ginny and said, "Dumbledore has a granddaughter? Since when?"

"Well, his wife died a long while ago, and they had a child really late, Sam's dad. They probably keep it secret because of all the emotional stress they had to go through," she said.

"What emotional stress?" Hermione asked, looking puzzled.

"Dumbledore's wife died, Sam's mom and dad divorced, her father died of a heart attack, her other grandparents died due to old age, and Dumbledore and her mom are the only living relatives she has left."

"Sounds kind of like me," Harry said, drawing a slight grin at his own response.

"Why, what happened Harry?" Ashley asked, a curious expression appearing on her face.

"Well, you've heard of Voldemort, haven't you?" Harry asked.

Everyone but Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the Fergusons flinched.

"Yeah, he's that really evil guy that kills for fun, right?" Paige replied.

"That's him. He's the one who killed my parents…" Harry said, adding "and my Godfather."

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry," Ashley said, and she truly looked it.

"It's ok; I'm used to it by now."

The conversation continued as the sun set, and everyone's energy was running low. The group set off to bed in shifts that night. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ashley were the last to head up, after finishing their conversation about the return to school.

The next few weeks went by quickly, and as usual, Harry wished it had lasted much longer. Of course, going back to Hogwarts would _definitely_ have its advantages. He couldn't wait for Quidditch, classes, tea with Hagrid, everything. He would even welcome a chat with Snape about his Potions grade; after all, he _did_ get an E. Altogether, he was excited about leaving Hermione's home, and to get back to the one he truly belonged; Hogwarts.


	6. Strangers In A Strange Land

Chapter 6: Strangers in A Strange Land 

The first stop was Diagon Alley, with two days left afterwards for packing, organizing, and anything else that needed to be done before they left. Harry was prepared for another public appearance, but he didn't know what people would think of him. It seemed as if everyone was trying to be especially nice, as if they knew of something he didn't. A tall, crooked man bowed to him, for no reason whatsoever, and said:

"Pleasure to have your acquaintance Mr. Potter."

Before Harry got a chance to respond, he disappeared into the crowd. Many others did the same thing, with solemn faces as they passed him or shook his hand. Maybe they heard about the whole Sirius thing, but, Harry thought, it was too late for them to feel sorry about that.

They met familiar crowds of people, but for once, didn't run into the Malfoys.

"That's odd," said Ron after Harry mentioned this, "it's usually as if they're looking for us to insult us."

They got their shopping done rather quickly, since the Granger's were in an extreme hurry to get out of there.

The ride to the train station was as normal as it should be. Mr. Weasley had yet again elongated a car for everyone to fit in, and this time it was Harry's. Nearly five seconds after entering the platform, two girls came running up to them, both of whom Harry had never seen before in his life. One had short brownish black hair and seemed to have the strength to break both of Harry's arms. But her smile was pleasant enough to charm anyone. The other one looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly. She had long waist length blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. This had to be Dumbledore's granddaughter; she had the same appearance; the only difference was that she had no beard.

"Hey Ash!" was the first thing that came out of their mouths.

"Hi guys! I've missed you so much," she said, hugging each of them in turn. Then she turned to face the group. "This is Mali Lauron and Sam Dumbledore, I've already told you about her." They both smiled and gave a slight wave.

"I'm guessing you're from America too," Ron said, looking at Mali with interest.

"Yeah, we flew over about two days ago, just in time to get to Hogwarts," Sam said.

"You're coming to Hogwarts too?" Ron seemed to be full of questions.

"That's why we're here. The only bad part is we have to be sorted." Mali gave a slight chuckle.

"Well so do I!" Paige exclaimed.

"I know, but we're going to look like such toast heads!" Ashley told them. They laughed while everyone else put on a confused look.

"Sorry, what was that?" Harry said; what could possibly be that funny about _toast_?

"Oh, I'm sorry, a toast head is like a 'dunderhead' to you guys. It's just slang from where we come from."

After a small and quick introduction, Mr. Weasley looked at his watch and exclaimed, "Come on you guys or you're going to miss the train!" The group marched forward, attracting way too many stares because of the large number of people and strange animals they had with them. There were ten people, five owls, along with Mali, Ashley, and Sam's, Crookshanks, and a bunch of trunks to go with them. Mali's owl was black as night, Sam's was a brown tawny, and Ashley's was a silvery white. They were all hooting happily to each other, knowing that an adventure was close at hand. Disappearing quickly onto the platform would be rather difficult this year, everyone left and right, every single one, was looking right at them.

They all stood twelve feet away from the barrier, just looking ahead. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny went through first, vanishing from sight. Ashley, Paige, Mali, and Sam went next. They ran towards the barrier, it being their first time running through the brick. Last were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Glancing left at Ron and right at Hermione, Harry had the same feeling that he was really going home this time, and nothing could be better than Hogwarts.

After saying goodbye to the adults outside, they all clambered onto the train with their belongings.

They found seats in the last compartment, which always seemed available. Only Neville was there, and he was sobbing softly into his cupped hands.

"What's wrong Neville?" Hermione asked frowning and looking at him with sympathy.

"It's my gran," he said while wiping his tears on his arm sleeve. "She had a stroke earlier this morning and was rushed to St. Mungo's. They're treating her right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I hope she's alright," Ashley said, stepping into the compartment along with Mali and Sam.

"Oh my goodness, we forgot to introduce ourselves," Mali said in a sophisticated tone.

"I'm Mali, and this is Sam and Paige. Oh and Fergy."

"What, someone else I haven't met?" Ron inquired, looking around for a new face.

"No you twit munch, she's right here!" Mali said, laughing and shaking her head.

"I won't even ask," Harry said, looking at each of them as if they were speaking in a different language.

"Ok, most of the words we'll use are going to be like dunderhead." Sam said simply.

"And Ashley has about a billion nicknames, so if we say something like Fergs or Fergy, it's most definitely her," Mali added.

Once the train began to move, Luna and Ginny entered with their trunks, Ginny looking slightly upset.

"Gin, what's up?" Ron asked, seeing her pummeling her trunk into the overhead storage.

"Dean," she said simply. Harry remembered that she had been dating Dean since the end of last year.

While everyone settled into their seats and started talking about their summer, the train began passing fields and wild country. Most of the ride, Harry sat and looked out the window. When someone talked to him, he acted normally, but afterwards, he went back to staring into space or down at his shoes.

"Hey, what's that?" Neville asked, pointing towards something sticking out of Mali's backpack.

"What's what?" Harry said, turning around and looking for something peculiar.

"Do you mean my wand?" Mali said, walking over and picking up her backpack. She took out her wand and they (everyone but the Americans) were astonished to see that it was tie-dye.

"Holy Cricket!" Hermione said, gasping with surprise, "how did you do that?"

"A spell," Fergy said, trying not to smile. Her, Sam, and Mali burst out in hysterical laughter.

"How'd you do it?" Hermione said, not seeming to notice the gales of laughter surrounding her.

"Well, first, think of the design you want," Mali told them, stopping her laughter to explain.

"Like what kind of design?"

"Hang on a sec." Fergy said, turning from them and grabbing her bag too. Her wand had red and black flames on it. It looked like it was really on fire. Sam produced her wand out of nowhere, in other words, her pocket. It had different color butterflies engraved on it.

"You're mad," Ron exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Thanks," Mali said, "we can't help it."

"Now all you have to do is look at your wand and concentrate on the design you want, like plaid, stripes, or whatever," Ashley said. "It's easier to start with just a plain color, because it takes a lot of concentration to make it really detailed. Then, say the spell, 'changelwan.'"

"And that's about it.'"

"Are you sure? It sounds kind of strange to me," Ron said, looking puzzled all over again.

"Ron," Sam said, "just watch and see if it works or not."

"Okay," Hermione breathed, putting a look of pure attention on her face as she forcefully stared at her wand. "changelwan!"

A small popping sound ensured them that she was successful. Mist and white fumes had enshrouded her wand, until the smokiness surrounding it became a violet cloud. Then, another popping sound and her wand was back to normal, except for the fact that it was now purple.

"Ooh, let me try!" Neville said, focusing on his own wand. Apparently he still had his self-confidence at doing spells. "changelwan!" To Harry's amazement, he actually nailed the spell. The same reaction occurred, and Neville's wand was now neon green.

"Good going Neville!" Ron said, looking at Neville with adoration.

"Man, I still can't do it," Paige sighed.

"So, where exactly are you from in America?" Hermione said, turning to the girls opposite her.

"Mali and I are from Harford County, Maryland, and Sam was from there too until she had to move to France with her grandmother after her parents divorced and all. That was about, what, two years ago?" Ashley said.

"Just about," Sam said.

"So, what have you brought with you this time Mali?" Fergy said, walking over to Mali's backpack and picking it up. Once she sat back down, she unzipped it and pulled out a large assortment of items. There were spell books and sheaves of parchment of every color, shape, and size, and the bottom of the bag was littered with bunches of scraps of parchment that had spells or notes scribbled on them. Her pack also contained cream colored candles and incense, along with the incense holder and matches.

"How many times do I have to tell you Mali, you can just light a fire with your wand!"

"I know, but it seems so much more original when you do it the Muggle way," she said, taking her bag and placing it on her lap to look through it.

"Hey, I didn't know I left this in here!" Mali exclaimed, taking a picture out of her bag. Everyone gathered around as Mali showed it.

"Ooh, this is one of my favorites! This is when Sam, Fergs and I went to an amusement park with some of our friends from Maryland. That's Georgiana and me in the middle, Sam n Fergs on our left, and then Adrian is there on the right."

"We miss them already," Ashley said. "We were great friends, and I hope we still are when we go back to visit. We've known them our whole lives, except for Sam, since she's been all over the place."

"Not like I wanted to go, I couldn't help it if practically all my family's gone," Sam said, looking sad for the first time.

"Yeah, but we're not blaming you," Ashley replied.

"You guys all have to lighten up!" Mali said, looking around. "Even if bad stuff's happened, you've got to get on with your life and make the most of it."

"Yeah, you're right Malers, cheer up Sam." Ashley said. She looked at her watch. "Shouldn't the trolley be coming soon? The trip has to be at least half way over."

"No, it'll probably be coming in about an hour," Hermione said, checking her watch now.

"How long did it take to get to your school from the train?" Ron asked.

"We didn't take the train, most of us could walk to our school," Mali said, closing up her bag and putting it back with the other luggage.

"Really? How close _was_ it?" Ron inquired.

"If we walked, about twenty minutes, but we didn't stay there overnight or anything. We went home at the end of the day," Mali told them, pulling a little game out of her pocket.

"Isn't that a Muggle toy?" Hermione asked, looking at the handheld electronic toy.

"Yeah, it's my favorite game."

"Not Tetris!" Ashley said, laughing at Mali. "You never quit playing that game!"

"I know, I can't help it, it's addicting!"

"It won't work for long though, only about another few hours," Hermione mentioned.

"Why?" Sam asked her, puzzled.

"All electronic things these Muggles come up with quit working around Hogwarts."

"I think I read something about that. It was in 'Hogwarts, A History', right?" Sam said, racking her brain.

"How'd you know?"

"Oh, Sam's a real book worm; she knows almost everything about anything." Fergy said, chuckling.

"We like to read too, but we'd rather write," Mali stated.

The day slowly drifted onward, as the train progressed towards Hogwarts. The group changed into their robes, making quite a hustle and bustle in the little space.

Once they had entered Hogsmeade, they began to grab their belongings, hurriedly checking the compartment for forgotten things. The train pulled into the station, but having ridden many times before, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville were already out in the corridor, briskly walking toward the exits.

"Aren't we supposed to wait 'til we stop?" Sam asked, looking around as though she might get caught doing something wrong.

"Don't worry, they always tell you that but it's easier to get a head start on the crowd," Ron said, glancing back.

The sky was a beautiful midnight blue, clear and smooth, with stars scattered across it.

"Awesome night for stargazing, don't you think, Fergs?" Mali said, looking up.

"Most, definitely," Ashley said, "got your stuff ready for later?"

"Yup, you?"

"Double duh."

"Sis!" Paige exclaimed.

"Not again!" Sam said, laughing.

"What's going on? Hermione asked, stepping up next to them in the crowd.

"Later," Ashley whispered, pointing.

Harry saw the carriages approaching up ahead and heard the familiar cry of "Firs' years, foller me, please!"

"Oh, I'd better go!" Paige exclaimed, heading off towards the monstrous form of Hagrid.

The group pushed their way with the mass of students surrounding them, reaching the carriages and all cramming into the same one; not a good idea. The whole bumpy way up to the castle was uncomfortable with everyone squished together. Ashley even had to sit on Mali's lap and ended up falling over the others at every turn, all of them laughing incessantly.

The castle's endless rows of candles were glimmering in countless windows. Their faces reflected in the pale light of the glass, and the many turrets and towers loomed above them, as if to welcome them home. 


	7. Confusion

Chapter Seven: Confusion 

The group practically toppled down from the coach craning their necks to take in the stone giant engulfing the night sky above them.

"Wow," Mali and Ashley chorused.

"Jeez, what's the big deal?" Sam asked, pushing past them. Mali and Fergy stared up with their mouths wide open.

"The **_big_** deal!" Ashley exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the castle. 

"Uh!" Sam said, rolling her eyes at her two friends, then making her way inside.

The Entrance Hall was dimly lit with the traditional floating candles. The massive amount of students slowly but surely shuffled into the Great Hall, taking their places at the four house tables. Mali, Ashley and Sam, of course, were left standing. Sam seemed ok about it, but Mali and Ashley looked nervous as ever. Harry wondered why they didn't just sit down.

"Follow me," Sam whispered to them, loud enough for Harry to hear. They followed her up the middle of the room, past many staring faces. Harry felt slightly sorry for them, having known how it feels. Sam walked right up to the staff tables, straight up to Dumbledore, and put on a cutesy little smile. Meanwhile, all of the tables became silent at the sight of the three newcomers, as the first years entered the hall.

Harry could hear every word being said in the eerie quiet of the room.

"Hey grandpa!" Sam said, tilting her head and batting her eyelashes, but seeing the inquisitive looks of the other teachers, corrected herself. "I mean…. Good evening Professor Dumbledore."

"Ah yes, I was expecting to see you here. But who may I ask are you're friends?" Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the two others with a slight wave of his hand. Mali and Ashley were dumbstruck, so Sam said, "this is Ashley Ferguson and Mali Lauron."

"Let us proceed, then. Will you please wait until the sorting is completed? I need to make some announcements and then I will see to it that we straighten things out."

The three girls looked for a place to sit, but found no available spaces. Instead, they dropped to the floor in front of the staff table and crossed their legs, looking up at the unfamiliar faces.

The first years stood in the middle of the hall, awaiting their fate. As always, Harry saw a few of them turning pale and quivering from nerves. Professor McGonagall brought out the three-legged stool and placed it on the floor where the noise echoed loudly. She then perched the old and wise hat on it so that it faced both the house tables and the children yet to be sorted. Harry watched as it opened its slit of a mouth, and broke into song:

_For many years I have been held_

_In quite a high esteem,_

_I choose where you will end up,_

_Where your minds change, this I've seen._

_The founders four, have given me_

_A mind to what I tell_

_Who is right for learning_

_Potion, history and spell._

_Ravenclaw, the sharpest wit, _

_Was smart and honored true,_

_And Hufflepuff, that charmer,_

_Showed friendship through and through._

_Gryffindor, the bravest yet,_

_Had a heart made out of steel,_

_But Slytherin, a crafty snake,_

_Decided to break their deal._

_He left our school, no backward glance,_

_Never to return,_

_The other three held the bonds tight,_

_And let his memory burn._

_Thusly, now we still hold strong,_

_Our castle which still stands,_

_The minds we shape here brilliant,_

_And soon will rule these lands._

_I must break up this young new year,_

_Even against all thought, _

_But in the end, you will see,_

_This division will be fought._

_For after we have come to find,_

_The differences not so great,_

_Four houses will mold into one,_

_And love will we create. _

Eruptions of applause rang throughout the halls, as the hat ended its' song. Harry glanced up at the house tables, seeing no new teacher to fill the position of Defense against the Dark Arts. Maybe he was just late, like Moody was when he taught here. The fake Moody. He now looked at the three figures on the floor, barely seen between the first years' legs. Mali and Fergs had now become bored with the commotion and were playing a game of Muggle cards. Sam, though she came here every summer, seemed to be like Hermione, soaking up everything that was going on.

Professor McGonagall had just lifted the sorting hat off the stool, and read aloud from her list of students, "Applebom, Mary."

A little blonde girl in pigtails jumped and then jittering made her way up to the stool. The hat was placed on her head, and after a few moments of silence, it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

She hopped down from the stool so fast she almost knocked it over, but grabbed it quickly and blushed, taking the hat off her head and running, almost sprinting to her table.

"Brentwood, Max!"

The palest boy in the vicinity walked up to the stool, casting nervous glances around at his peers, and sat down. After about fifteen seconds of which the boy was shaking, the hat cried out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Upon hearing the shout, the boy jumped in his seat and fell backwards off the stool amidst gales of laughter, mostly from the Slytherin table.

As the sorting continued, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began conversation.

"Where d'you suppose the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?" Hermione asked, looking back towards the doors into the Entrance Hall.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "Maybe he's just running late."

"Maybe we won't have one!" Ron said hopefully.

"Perhaps one of the other teachers is taking over the post," Hermione suggested.

"Who knows," Harry said.

They didn't pay much attention to the sorting until they heard a familiar name being called.

"Ferguson, Paige!" Professor McGonagall announced, and they watched as the youngest Ferguson approached the stool. She sat still for a minute. Two minutes. The hat seemed to take forever to decide, until it opened its mouth and yelled to the hall.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She took the hat off and ran full out to her seat at the Gryffindor table, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione congratulated her, and Harry saw Fergy give her sister the thumbs up.

The rest of the sorting passed in a haze to the three, immersed in conversation about the Defense teacher and what they were going to have for dinner. They only stopped when Hermione began nudging them.

"I'm gonna starve if they don't start serving, what, Hermione?" Ron said.

"Look, I think it must be time for the girls to get sorted!" Hermione said, pointing.

A boy named Brandon Yalt had just been sorted into Slytherin and was looking smugly happy about it. Fergy, Mali, and Sam rose and walked over to the stool the sorting hat was perched upon, casting furtive glances up at Dumbledore.

Professor Dumbledore stood up to begin his usual start of the year announcements as Professor McGonagall took the stool and sorting hat away. Harry saw Mali and Ashley looked at each other, obviously confused.

"Why aren't we getting sorted?" Harry heard Mali ask Sam.

"Harry saw Sam whisper something to Mali. He then heard her hiss "Now be quiet!"

Mali and Fergy began a quiet, yet seemingly important conversation, peeking at Sam every couple of seconds.

Professor Dumbledore smiled and then spoke.

"First years please note that the forbidden forest, and the village of Hogsmeade are off limits, and the same to anyone under third year, you shouldn't be venturing off the grounds in any case. Next I would like to remind you that ice skating on the lake during the winter months is prohibited, due to some nasty accidents involving our giant squid and some missing students. Finally I regret to announce that our new defense against the dark arts teacher will not be arriving until our first day of classes. On that note, let the feast begin!"

Meats, vegetables, and fruits of every color, shape, and size appeared and the ravenous students immediately grabbed for it.

"Alright now I'm confused!" Harry heard Sam exclaim, as everyone seemed to forget them in the feeding frenzy.

"Oh forget this!" Fergy shouted. "I'm starving!"

She ran over to the Gryffindor table, and had begun eating before she sat down. Mali followed suit, although somewhat reluctantly. Sam however remained defiantly standing where she was.

The plates seemed to be cleared quicker than usual, probably because of the addition of two extremely hungry students.

Professor Dumbledore bid the Great Hall goodnight, but rushed to pull the girls aside, afraid, by the looks of it, that Mali and Ashley would waltz into any dormitory they could find. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hung back amongst the throng of students trying to hear what was to become of their new friends.

"I shall need to talk to you in my office," Professor Dumbledore said, looking around at the staff table.

Harry saw Ashley talking to her sister, and not soon after, Paige had walked off with the rest of the Gryffindor first years.

"Man, now we can't hear what he's going to do with them," Ron said, a look of mourning on his face. Dumbledore, who was now walking past them, stopped to look at Harry, and said, "Yes, you three had better come too."

"Yes!" whispered Ron.

They marched silently behind Dumbledore, being talked about and pointed at by the students lingering in the hallways. He led them, swiftly, through secret passages and back stairwells until they came to the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office.

"Skittles," Dumbledore said, stopping in front of the passage.

"What the bloody hell are skittles?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"They are a rather tasty muggle candy, which I came across last month on my vacation, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said, entering the swirling staircase. Ron looked at Harry, his eyebrows nearly touching in his shock.

The exhausted group of sixth years stood as the staircase made its' way up to the oak door, too tired to climb even a bit. By the time they got through the door, professor Dumbledore was already seated behind his desk. It and all the other tables in the room were covered with the usual assortment of spinning, whirring, and clinking objects. Professor Dumbledore conjured up six extra chairs and gestured for them to sit.

"Firstly, I bet you are wondering why I have brought you three here," he said, eyeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. No one spoke so Dumbledore continued. "I would like you three to assist whichever of these girls may be placed in your house, which I am sure will be at least one of them. You will help them in both lessons and homework, because I have not been informed from their previous schools what they have and haven't learned so far. So I would much appreciate if you could review your past few years' worth of knowledge with them."

"We'd be happy to help, but Professor, what is it we have to teach them? It would take far too long to go over every little detail," Hermione said.

"For now, just go over the basic spells you think they will need. I trust you will be a great teacher, Miss Granger."

Hermione blushed and tried not to smile too much in her satisfaction.

"Where are we going to stay for tonight, though?" Mali asked sleepily.

"We have two available beds in both Gryffindor and Slytherin, and one in both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff," Dumbledore answered. "I shall make sure the staff move them if need be."

"Well, let's get this over with, I'm tired," Mali said yawning.

Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair and went to one of his many shelves, taking the sorting hat down from the top, which must have appeared there only moments before. He placed the hat firstly on Mali, who was slowly falling asleep in her chair. After about two minutes of which she was sliding down the seat, the hat had an answer.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted, and Mali practically fell to the floor in surprise. Now totally awake, she made a fist and jerked her elbow back while breathing out a "yes!"

Dumbledore then placed the hat over Sam's long blond hair, and it almost instantly shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

"Very good, you know. I was in the same house when I was your age," Professor

Dumbledore said smiling at his granddaughter.

"It must run in the family," she said grinning back at him.

Last but not least, Dumbledore picked up the old sorting hat and put it on Ashley's head where she sat quite still for a moment. Everyone watched and waited until it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" to the silent room.

"Oh, but grandfather, now I won't be able to see my friends!" Sam said sadly with a puppy dog look on her face.

Harry was somewhat reminded of Dudley in his early years.

Giving in, Dumbledore said, "I will allow you to visit the Gryffindor common room under one condition. You must return to your own dormitory by midnight, or you shall face the consequences. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," Sam replied.

"Now, off to bed with you," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together and smiling.

He waved Mali over and said something quietly to her so the others couldn't hear. Mali grinned and nodded, walking back to join the group.

"You should have a good night sleep for your first full day at Hogwarts."

Mali checked her watch as they descended the stairs. "It's only ten o'clock!"

"I can see you're awake again," Sam said.

"We've got three hours 'til you're expected back, so let's go kick it and have us some fun," Fergy said smiling mischievously.

"But we don't have our stuff!" Mali said. "Do you think they've brought them to our new houses yet?"

"If they haven't they'll get there before we do. Now come on, let's go check."

"We can't," Harry said, "we don't have the password."

"Then let's go back and ask P. Diddy." Ashley said.

"Who?" The others chorused.

"That's what I'm gonna call Dumbledore from now on. Easier to remember."

"Whatever," Mali said, giggling at her.

They tuned back to the stone gargoyle.

"What was that password again?" Hermione asked.

"Some stupid muggle thing," Ron said.

"They're not stupid, Skittles are awesome _and_ you're insulting muggles!" Ashley said.

"Well I don't know, I've never had them, and who cares."

"Don't dis' things you don't know about!"

Just as Ron and Fergy were seemingly getting into a very stupid argument, the least wanted teacher strode over to them with a satisfying grin on his face.

"Oh great, the slimy git has already found his way straight to you, Harry," Ron whispered, seeing Snape approached them.

"What are all of you doing out of your dormitories at this time of night? Surely, I'll have to deduct points unless you have a reasonable explanation, which I'm sure you don't," Snape said in one breath, sneering evilly around.

"We were just going back up to have a chat with old P. Diddy, maybe he could explain to you what were doing. 'Cuz you _obviously_ aren't going to believe us," Fergy said, crossing her arms.

"That's a good idea, except I will be speaking to the Headmaster and not some…P. Diddly" about your… _behavior_."

"You do that," Mali said.

Snape led the way back towards the gargoyle, and before he opened his mouth, Ron said,

"Skittles," and the passageway opened.

Snape goggled for a moment, and then put his evil grin back on his face.

"Very well, I see you have already spoken to the headmaster. No doubt it wasn't a cheery visit," Snape said, regaining his composure.

They reached the top of the staircase, _again,_ and Snape knocked harshly on the oak door.

"Yes?" Dumbledore asked, opening the door, already wearing his nightclothes.

"Sorry to bother you headmaster, but these children were - "

"They were here to see me Severus," Dumbledore cut in. "I needed to speak with them before they went to bed. Surely, this is not a problem?"

Snape cast his eyes downward for a split second, then his eyes shot back up at Dumbledore. Mali grabbed at the opportunity.

"Professor, sir, we were wondering if our things had been taken to our dormitories, and how to get to our dormitories, and if you had the passwords." She said all this very quickly, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Oh yes, my old age is showing more than ever. I completely forgot to give you some much needed information," Dumbledore said smiling. "The Ravenclaw dormitory is up on the 6th floor, down the fourth corridor on your left. The tower is behind the statue of a stocky witch, and the password is Dultice. Harry, Ron, and Hermione can show the rest of you to the Gryffindor common room. And the password is Groklizite."

"Thank you Professor," Sam said, still being formal.

Snape just stood there, unhappy by the lack of trouble these students were in.

"If I may, headmaster, I am rather tired," and he turned, his hand on the doorknob.

"Wait a moment, Severus, I would like you to escort these students to the Gryffindor dormitory, and I have already granted my granddaughter, Samantha, the privilege of staying in Gryffindor tower until midnight each night."

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape muttered, sweeping out the door quickly, the others hurrying to keep up.

"Thanks," they all said as they whisked out of his room.

Snape seemed to feel no desire to waste more than enough sleep, so he strode as fast as he could without running, causing the others to have to jog to keep up.

Once outside the Gryffindor common room, Snape stopped for a second, waved his arm at the fat lady, and strode off again. The group stood staring at him for a few seconds before they walked into the common room and plopped down in the worn-out chairs by the fire.

"Man, can you get any worse?" Fergy asked.

"Dunno, maybe a troll, but it'd have to be a terribly vicious one," Ron said, trying to get back on Fergy's good side.

"Well, it's only 10:20, so what do you wanna do?" Sam asked.

Mali jumps to feet as though struck by sudden inspiration. "Telescopes!"

Fergy looked at her questionably and had a sudden look of dawning comprehension. "Ooh" she said, grinning. "Do we really have the time?"

"Yes! We've always got time! Let's go! Let's go!" Mali said.

They ran up to their dormitory where their bags must have been. Harry saw them come back down a second later.

"I really don't think…" Sam began.

"Fergy cut her off, saying "hey, you've got till twelve, but we've got all night."

Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood watching as Fergy and Mali began bouncing off the walls with excitement. "You guys coming?" Mali asked.

"Sure," Ron said, casting a furtive look over the ecstatic girls.

"Let me get my cloak," Harry said.

"Hurry!" Fergy said.

Harry shook his head slightly and let out a huff of laughter as he went up to the dormitory. He saw that there was an extra bed in the corner, and went over to his own. He opened his trunk and pulled out his invisibility cloak. He walked back down the steps, feeling that tonight might be more trouble than he hoped.

The group headed back out the portrait, lucky to find the fat lady half asleep. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sam were able to fit under the cloak, but Mali and Fergy were left standing.

"What are you guys going to do about being seen?" Hermione asked

"No problem," Fergy said.

They both pulled out their wands from their bags and tapped each other on the head, their eyes closed in concentration. They shivered as though ice were being poured down their backs. They both started to fade away until they blended into the walls behind them.

"What'd you do?" Ron asked in awe.

"Disillusionment charm," said a piece of wall in front of them that sounded like Mali.

"Hey I remember that," Harry said from under the cloak. He wondered how many other difficult spells they had mastered.

"Come on," Hermione said, nudging Harry under the cloak.

"Okay, okay," Harry replied, moving toward the staircase.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had never been out of their dormitory on the first night back to Hogwarts, and Harry was astounded to see no teachers walking the corridors.

"It's a bit creepy, isn't it?" Fergy whispered from somewhere next to them.

"Yeah," Harry muttered.

Once they had crept all the way down to the castle steps that led out into the night, Mali exclaimed, "wait!" in a loud, panting whisper.

"What?" Ron asked, stopping right in front of Fergy who, not seeing him because he was under the cloak, toppled over him in the darkness. It was most likely strange, thought Harry, if someone were to come down the main steps right now. They would hear but not see the quiet brawl to untangle each other from Harry's cloak, while Ron, Harry, Sam, and Hermione still tried to remain covered.

"Mali!" Fergy said accusingly. They no longer seemed to care to keep their voices down.

"Hey, I dropped something, and I didn't know how far ahead of me you were!" Mali said, exasperatedly.

Once everyone had sorted themselves out and Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Sam were back under the cloak, they headed straight for the front doors. Harry opened one as silently as possible, and they walked out into the cool night air. But before Harry could take another step, he saw something that made his heart stop.


	8. Fruitcake

**Chapter Eight: Suspicious **

Hagrid was standing with his back turned, talking to someone in front of his cabin. Though it was over two hundred feet away, Harry thought there was no mistaking him. But it just couldn't be. It looked so much like…

"Harry, come on, what are you waiting for?" Ron asked, as Harry stood motionless. He looked over at Ron, and then back to Hagrid's hut, which had a light on inside, but didn't seem to have anyone out front.

"Oh, sorry, I just thought I saw something, that's all," he said, unsure what to believe.

Fang emitted a loud bark, which could be heard quite distinctly from their position.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Fergy exclaimed. She tapped herself on the head, no longer needing camouflage in the dark. She fished around in the front of her bag, which had a ventilated compartment. "Ah, there he is!" she said, pulling out what Harry thought was a little stuffed dog. But when he looked closer, he saw it to be a live animal, what looked like a shrunken cattle dog, snoozing in the palm of her hand. He was no larger than a doorknob, and was now sitting up and stretching.

"Good boy," Fergy said, petting him with her index finger, "time for you to be big again."

"Hang on," Ron started, but never finished his statement. Fergy had swung her flaming wand a few ways and muttered "lamronotca," as she placed the dog on the grass.

Before they knew it, he was normal sized, up to Harry's waist. He began wagging his nub (since he didn't have a tail) and started running around everyones legs as they attempted to scratch his head and back.

"Good Casey!" she said, pulling out a leash from her bag and, once she had gotten a hold of him, attached it to the dog's collar. Mali pulled out a similar object from her bag, except her dog was an Akita with a curled-up tail. "This is Zeus," Mali said. Once he had been brought to real size, both Casey and Zeus began sniffing each other and playing in the grass, while Mali put on Zeus's leash.

"You guys _are_ crazy," Ron muttered, his eyebrows yet again in the questioning position.

"You do know dogs aren't allowed at Hogwarts, right?" Hermione said.

"Oh well," Fergy said. Harry was amazed by the amount of magic these girls already knew. He thought back to what Dumbledore said, and realized they would probably end up teaching Harry, Ron, and Hermione instead of the other way around.

They trudged over the grounds, making sure not to be seen under a glow of light from Hagrid's cabin or the many castle windows. They soon found the perfect spot, up on a hill out by the edge of the grounds, fairly far from the castle, where you could see every star in the sky. Harry saw that the moon was unusually bright tonight. He said this to Ron and Hermione, and Ron chuckled, saying in reply, "you're starting to sound like those centaurs, Harry."

"Shut up, Ron," Harry said, punching him in the arm.

He watched as Ashley, Mali, and Sam set up their astronomy equipment. It was amazing how many things they had in their bags, though as Harry reminded himself, they had used magic to shrink them.

"Did you guys have an Astronomy class at your old school?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, we had a billion classes," Ashley said. "Transfiguration, Astronomy, Family and Consumer Sciences, Potions, Defensive Magic, Cooking, Arts and Crafts, -"

"History, English, Latin, and so many more," Mali finished.

"Whew," Ron whistled.

Harry sat on the grass with Ron, Hermione, and Sam, while Fergy and Mali stood and looked through their telescopes, occasionally taking notes on whatever they saw.

"You're not thinking of inventing _another_ spell, are you?" Sam asked, her arms on her hips.

"What, it's too fun to stop," Fergy said, stopping her note taking to look at Sam in the darkness.

"You _invent_ spells!" Hermione exclaimed, sitting straight up.

"Of course, don't you?" Mali asked.

"No, we were never taught how to create a spell," Harry said, wondering yet again how much knowledge he would have to take this year.

"Oh, we'll have to teach you sometime," Fergy said, smiling at Harry. He felt a jerk in his stomach, not fully understanding why.

"The color changing wand one was one we made up ourselves," Mali said.

"Man, wish I could do that," Ron muttered.

After about an hour or so, Sam checked her watch.

"You guys, it's 11:42, I've got to get back to my common room soon," she mentioned.

"Okay, okay, we'll clean everything up, we've got almost all the stuff we need for our next spell anyway," Fergy said, packing up some of her equipment. Harry was glad they were heading back; he had begun to fall asleep in the cool night air. As he sat up, he realized Ron had fallen asleep on the ground next to him. Hermione was about to poke him, but Mali ran over to her, whispering, "wait!"

Hermione stepped back. Harry wondered what kind of scheme Mali had up her sleeve.

"This is an easy spell we made up last year to see what someone's dreaming about," Mali said quietly, kneeling beside Ron and leaning over him, examining his face as he snored.

"Let's hope he doesn't wake up," Fergy said.

"Dreminred," Mali whispered, pointing her wand at Ron's forehead.

A misty vapor rose from his temple until it formed an image which began to move. It looked like a girl with short black hair. They looked closer and saw a figure in the background that must have been Ron, and noticed him pulling on what seemed to be an invisible rope. As the misty figure of Ron pulled, the black haired witch came closer to him until he had her in his arms.

"Is that who I think it is?" Hermione whispered to Harry. He knew she was talking about the black haired girl in the dream mist, and he also thought it looked just like Mali.

"I've got an easy way to solve this," Mali said, grinning evilly.

She held her wand close to Ron's forehead once again and the dream cloud drifted back into his mind.

"Wake up sweetie," Mali said, rubbing Ron's shoulder, her face close to his. "Don't you want a kiss?"

Harry watched as Ron slowly opened his eyes a bit, mumbling something and smiling sheepishly. Sam let out a giggle as he pursed his lips.

"Awenkei," Mali said, pointing her wand at Ron's eyes.

"Huh, what?" Ron said, starting and staring around at everyone. They had all fallen over in fits of laughter, except for Mali who was smiling as she leaned over him.

"You fruitcake!" Fergy managed to say, her hand over her mouth.

"Ron, you're mental," Harry said, due to the confused look on Ron's face. He must have forgotten his dream already.

"Come on big boy," Mali said, wrapping her arm around Ron's shoulder and helping him up.

Harry, Hermione, Fergy, and Sam walked a ways behind Ron and Mali who were deep in conversation. Once they got to the stairs leading up to the castle, Sam, Hermione, and Harry got under the invisibility cloak, while Mali performed the disillusionment charm on Ron and herself and Fergy did the same.

It seemed to take them no time at all to find the Ravenclaw common room, where Sam left them moments before midnight.

The rest of them continued climbing until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, where they gave her the password and clambered through the portrait hole.

**NOT FINISHED YET SO KEEP CHECKING BACK!**

**-MUCH LUV-**

**FERG**


End file.
